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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Senator Loren Legarda with Mr. Nicolas Hulot, Special Envoy of the French President for the Protection of the Planet

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today said she looks forward to French President Francois Hollande’s forthcoming visit to the Philippines, which is expected to tackle Philippine-French cooperation on climate action.

Legarda made the statement following her meeting with the Special Envoy of the French President for the Protection of the Planet, Mr. Nicolas Hulot, who said that President Hollande is very keen on working with the Philippine Government to ensure that the COP 21 or the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France will be more than just the usual climate talks as it should compel nations to carry out urgent climate action.

“The COP 21 is a very crucial platform for climate action and I am glad that President Hollande is eager to make this a successful conference that would bring in significant results, specifically a universal and ambitious climate deal, which has been elusive for many years now,” she said.

Legarda, United Nations Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, said that the meeting with Hulot focused on how the two nations can work together to mitigate climate change and ensure that nations affected are able to adapt to its effects.

“France is moving towards a green economy and sustainable development. One of its aims is to halve French consumption on fossil fuels by the year 2050 as part of its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On the other hand, the Philippines has been working towards resilience as it is greatly vulnerable to natural hazards and the effects of climate change. These realities make a good formula for climate cooperation between the two nations,” she explained.

The Senator said that Hulot also called for climate justice, stressing that nations like the Philippines, which is a very low emitter of greenhouse gas, are those that bear the brunt of climate change.

“It is in developing countries where disaster risks abound and the poor are the most affected by disasters, which are getting stronger and more frequent due to climate change. Natural hazards have rendered vulnerable populations as climate refugees in their own communities. These people are seeking climate justice for a catastrophe they never created or caused,” Legarda said.

She noted that France is likewise calling for the operationalization of the Green Climate Fund and for industrialized nations to assist developing countries in reducing the risks and coping with the impacts of extreme weather events, while reducing their own GHG emissions.

“We look forward to this climate cooperation with France and we hope that the COP 21 will result in climate cooperation among all nations. No nation is safe from climate change unless we do something now. We must act now,” Legarda concluded.